Telford’s top detective today welcomed a 40-month jail sentence handed down to a Telford man who burgled 27 homes in the space of a month.

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Edwards, head of CID in Telford & Wrekin, said he was delighted at the three years and four months sentence given at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday to David Lloyd, whose victims included an eight-year-old girl.

Mr Edwards pledged there would be no let-up in the fight against burglars and vowed that such criminals would be dealt with robustly and put before the courts.

Lloyd, 23, of Newdale, admitted burgling 23 homes in the Ketley, Overdale0 and The Rock areas while people slept. He also asked for four other offences to be taken into consideration.

The raids were carried out within a month and it was Lloyd’s first time appearing before the courts charged with burgling homes.

Mr Edwards said: “Lloyd was a prolific burglar who targeted insecure homes while the owners slept upstairs.

“His crimes caused tremendous distress to his victims and I am delighted he has been brought to justice through the excellent work of officers and help of members of the public.

“One of his victims was an eight-year-old girl. Lloyd sneaked into the family home and stole £10 from one of her birthday cards, which had been left out for her to open the following morning.

“Instead of enjoying her birthday, the girl was left feeling extremely upset, and in fact to this day she is still suffering sleep problems as a result of what happened.

“She doesn’t feel safe in her own home and wants to stay at her cousin’s house. Her mother also has to pretend to ring the police every so often to reassure her daughter that the police are looking after the house. She is completely traumatised.

“Lloyd thoroughly deserves to be jailed.”

Lloyd was caught by police after a member of the public spotted him acting suspiciously in a neighbour’s back garden.

Police attended the scene but could not see any offenders. Officers waited nearby and once Lloyd started moving again they arrested him.

Mr Edwards said: “At first Lloyd denied everything. We went around to his house and searched his property but items had been moved in an attempt to cover up his crimes. But officers persisted and soon discovered around £10,000 worth of stolen property around the address.”

By Simon Hardy